| Description |
302 p. ; 30 cm. |
| Series |
CEU Medieval Studies Department PhD theses ; 2015/1
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CEU Doctoral School of History
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| Subject |
Stephen, Voivode of Moldavia, approximately 1435-1504.
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Moldavia -- History -- To 1500.
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| Language |
English |
| Summary |
The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century image of Stephen the Great in order to reveal the matrix of his myth’s foundation – which will be called, further on, the “proto-myth.” Condensed between 1457 and the end of the sixteenth century, the proto-myth represented the “birth” of Stephen’s afterlife in the realm of Moldavian (and afterwards, Romanian) social imaginary. Because of this, it should be seen as a rather fluctuating and uncertain period from a mythical point of view, bestowing on Stephen uncrystallized, yet already perceivable characteristics. It will be seen that all the “ingredients” which formed the myth of Stephen starting with the seventeenth century existed before the sixteenth century, allowing the study of the proto-myth. Stephen began to be perceived as invincible starting with his early military successes and culminating with the 1475 victory of the Battle of Vaslui, against the Ottoman army. This victory dazzled his contemporaries and set the path towards the creation of the prince’s image. This path was formed of two intrinsic elements of image creation: self-fashioning in the fifteenth century and the propagation of this self-fashioning in the sixteenth century. Although self-fashioning was theorized with prevalence to the Renaissance and the early modern period, the conscious idea of fashioning human identity through manipulable and artful processes existed throughout history and may be easily applied to the intentions of Stephen the Great. Consequently, this dissertation will highlight the process of “making” the ruler, resulting in a distinct style, a pattern which was then propagated in the sixteenth century by his successors. It will frame the transformation of the self into a distinctive character and personality. This dissertation is comprised of five chapters, all of which present and comment upon particular facets of the Moldavian ruler’s myth-making process. They present (more or less chronologically) the methods (employed intentionally or unintentionally) which built the foundations of the myth. While the dissertation browses through the most relevant aspects of the life and reign of Stephen the Great, it focuses on how these aspects influenced the machinery which enhanced the ruler’s image. Undoubtedly, Stephen the Great was not alone when he started the so-called dynastic project or his church-building campaign, and the first part of the dissertation shows how these enterprises were fulfilled. With the help of the Royal Council and the Church, Stephen reached a level of self-fashioning never reached before in Moldavia: his image was enhanced by founding a large number of churches and monasteries, by embellishing them with innovative architectural elements and iconography, by presenting the ruler with the attitude and attributes of an emperor, by commissioning chronicles and votive images recording the prince’s deeds and showing his image, by (re)creating his own history and his own time, by publicly commemorating both military success and defeats, and so on. Further on, in the sixteenth century, the successors of Stephen followed in the footsteps of their predecessor and continued, as much as the circumstances allowed, his cultural, political, and even mythical legacy. Stephen became a role model in the sixteenth century and all the maneuvers which hinted to this are presented in the second part of the thesis. While Stephen drew on the examples of early “Great” emperors and possibly on contemporary royal and imperial examples, his successors also added Stephen to their inventory of role models. Furthermore, Stephen’s image was promoted by non-princely means which crystallized in the collective memory of the sixteenth century: songs were sang about him, his votive images were visible in a high number of locations (including in Wallachia), his battle pillars were still visible as signs of his victorious allure, certain battle fields such as that of Codrii Cozminului were still imbibed with fear for certain Moldavian enemies, and so on. Concluding, this dissertation is comprised of two parts: the fifteenth-century life of Stephen the Great and his sixteenth-century afterlife. This dissertation should be seen, altogether, as an account of the “invention” of Stephen the Great in its very early stages. |
| Note |
Degree: PhD |
| File Type |
PDF file (8224k) |
| Local note |
ETD |
| Access |
Unrestricted |
| System Det |
System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader; PostScript compatible printer |
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